PHOTOS: SAC clinches at least a share of conference title with victory

Kristian Constantine of SAC (No. 81) is congratulated by teammates after scoring one of his three touchdowns Saturday against West Los Angeles. The Dons won its sixth game in a row. (Photos: Fernando M. Donado, For OC Sports Zone)

The Santa Ana College football team continued to roll up big numbers at Santa Ana Stadium winning its sixth consecutive game to clinch at least a tie of the American Metro Conference title with a 63-21 victory over West Los Angeles.

The Dons (6-3, 4-0) have clinched at least a tie for the conference title and will travel to Glendale next Saturday with a chance to win the title outright. The Wildcats fell to 2-6 and 1-3.

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SACs offense got busy on the opening series of the game as it marched 65 yards in seven plays for a touchdown. Ceasar Ayala completed five consecutive passes before Gary Ferman bulldozed into the end zone to give the Dons a 7-0 lead.

“I never thought I would be playing football at age 28, but I’m having so much fun and enjoying it,” said Ferman.

After a West LA three-and-out, Ayala went right back to the air completing a series of short passes and capped the scoring drive with a 21-yard TD pass to Kristian Constantine, upping the Dons lead to 14-0.

The SAC defense continued to shut down the Wildcats offense as the Dons offense continued to sizzle. Ayala tossed his second TD pass late in the first quarter on a 5-yard pass to Tyler Shimomura increasing the Dons’ lead to 21-0.

SAC offensive lineman (Anthony Solis, Ed Jones, David Sanchez, Joseph Benson and John Fonseca) won the game in the trenches and gave Ayala and David Griffin plenty of time to throw.

“We’re trying to dominate every play so we can give our quarterback time to find our receivers,” said Benson, a lineman from Orange High. “It all starts in practice. Our practices are hard, the games are easier, but our practices are really hard.”

On a drive that took up nearly half of the second quarter, Ayala capped SACs 84-yard march by tossing a 22-yard TD pass – his third of the game – to Kyran Hayes as the Dons built a 28-0 lead.

Griffin took over the SAC QB duties midway through the second quarter and picked up where Ayala left off. 

Griffin threw a 41-yard TD pass to Constantine and then added a 4-yard TD pass to Shaw in the final minute of the half as the Dons took a commanding 42-0 at the break. Griffin finished with three TD passes and scored a touchdown.  

SAC dominated both sides of the ball as it racked up 407 yards of offense in the first half and registered 27 first downs. The Dons defense, behind the aggressive play of Daylen Fuller, Jude Joseph, Cameron Sweet and Matthew Galvan, limited the Wildcats to five first downs and 69 yards in the opening half.

“I believe one of the reasons our defense has been so successful is because we go up against the first string offense every day in practice,” said Galvan, a freshman middle linebacker from Fullerton High and one of the Dons leading tacklers. “We are really swarming to the ball well as a defense right now.”

The only time the Dons were stopped in the first half was when an Ayala’s pass was deflected and intercepted in the end zone. The Wildcats only threatened once in the opening half but their field goal attempt was blocked. 

Ayala finished the first half by completing 24 of 28 passes for 251 yards and 3 TDs. The Dons receiving core of Constantine, Shaw, Hayes and Shimomura combined to catch 27 passes for 343 yards and 5 TDs in the opening half as West LA simply could not slow the Dons attack.

“Our chemistry is unbelievable,” said Constantine, who caught 10 passes and scored three touchdowns. “We’re clicking and I feel if there were playoffs, we would go really far.”

“It all starts in practice and translates to the game,” said Shaw, who caught 10 passes and scored a TD. “I feel blessed. We need to get one more (win) to get that title.”  

SAC has averaged 57.8 points per game in their six victories and their defense, entering Saturday’s game, ranked fourth in the California Community Colleges Athletic Association (CCCAA), allowing 13.7 points per game and are they are the No. 1 team with seven defensive touchdowns.      

Ayala has thrown 23 touchdowns passes thus far this season.  

“It feels good to get this win and I’m so proud of our staff and our student athletes,” said Dons Coach Anthony White. “We still have some things to improve on like keeping our composure and playing smart. Sometimes when you get a big lead, you have a tendency to play out of character, but we’ll fix that.”

––Courtesy Tom Connolly, For OC Sports Zone